What is a beta reader and why do I need one?

You might have seen the term ‘beta reader’ as you’re browsing writing websites, or maybe this is the first time you’ve heard of it.

Basically, a beta reader gives you feedback on your finished manuscript, so you can adjust it before you set it loose on the world. I consider them the superheroes of self-publishing (and great for traditional publishing, too).

Beta testers find the bugs and improve the software’s usability before the final “release” version goes on sale. A beta reader tests your manuscript (by reading it), and tells you about the ‘bugs’ so you can improve its readability, its usefulness and even its saleability.

It’s an especially valuable step if you are planning to self-publish, but can also help you in the quest to get an agent or publisher if you are planning on going the traditional route with your book.

How to say it

Unfortunately, it’s one of those tomayto-tomahto kinda words. I say it “beeta”, like most Australians and quite a few Brits. In the US, it often seems to be “bayta”. And apparently in some parts of the world, it’s more like “betta”!

I think the take-home message is: Say “beta readers” however you like, just get some! 🙂

Why do I need a beta reader?

The fact is, we spend so much time on our own manuscripts that we can’t see them objectively — no matter how diligently we self-edit. These can be some of the outcomes (there are plenty more):

We create anticipation or an expectation early in the book, but forget to deliver on it.

We describe events in a way that is clear to us but not clear to a reader who can’t see the pictures in our head. (At least, we hope they can’t see them. Are you looking inside my head??? Eek!)

We leave out vital steps in an explanation and don’t realise it, because we know what we mean.

The characters in our books (whether fictional, or real as in a memoir or non-fiction anecdote) are not convincing, because we know them so well we don’t realise we haven’t developed them thoroughly on paper.

Is it the same as a critique group?

No.

Some people are in critique groups of writers who give each other feedback in a group setting. Some people love critique groups and others hate them, which probably depends a lot on which group you ended up in!

If you’re in a good one and finding it useful, that’s fantastic. People like Tolkien and CS Lewis were in what were effectively ‘critique groups’ (see this article about the Inklings), so you’re following in some quality footsteps. 😉

But it’s not quite the same thing as a beta reader, largely because of the group vs individual dynamic.

You may have experienced a group setting where a kind of groupthink happens, and everyone thinks it’s fabulous or alternatively everyone is tearing it down, and individual voices get lost. The big swirl of group discussion can also make it harder to identify which are the really useful comments, and which are less discerning about the purpose of your particular book.

How is it different?

The beta reader’s report cuts through this “noise”. A beta reader will read your entire manuscript, on their own, and develop a personal response to it, uninfluenced by the opinions of others. The thing I particularly like about this is that reading is generally a solitary pursuit, and books ‘happen’ in the mind of the reader. So it’s an authentic way to encounter your book.

The best beta readers will give you a written report on their responses (which could be several pages long), and they often also will make notes in the text, to show their reaction to specific sections of the book.

And no, the best beta reports are not always the ones you pay for. In fact, most people get beta reads by an exchange of favours with other writers.

Ideally you’ll get at least two or three or four beta reads, so you can then weigh them up carefully. The responses will be very different, so don’t be alarmed by that! (I’ll write more soon about how to respond to a beta read.)

But surely good writers don’t need beta readers?

Oh yes they do.

Getting another opinion is one of the foundations of the book industry.

Publishers have been doing the beta reader thing for years, they just don’t call it that. 😉 When I worked as a specialist editor for a Sydney non-fiction publisher, after I’d read an unsolicited manuscript, if we were interested in it we would send it out to one or more other readers. Commissioned manuscripts likewise went through a multi-reader process.

Those readers were chosen for various reasons: sometimes because they had particular expertise relevant to the topic; sometimes because they had no special expertise, and could represent Every Reader.

Also, in my ongoing work for publishers, I can always tell very quickly which manuscript has had a lot of skilled beta readers before it was submitted.

These are non-fiction books that have been commissioned — they are not trying to fight their way out of a slush pile — and yet that author has still taken the time to run his or her work by friends and colleagues to get another perspective. The quality shines out of those manuscripts. They almost edit themselves!

You can imagine that a book in the slush pile will have a much harder time “shining” if it’s had no feedback!

Don’t imagine for a moment that seeking a beta reader is an admission that you don’t know what you’re doing as a writer. Quite the opposite. It’s the professional way to go.

I’ve been writing for a living for decades, but I still seek opinions from beta readers on my own books. And for my novel, because it’s my first foray into fiction and a whole new set of rules, I’ve had almost a football team of beta readers at different stages and with different specialties! 😉 I’m determined it’s NOT going to be one of those First Novels that never sees the light of day. And so I get targeted feedback and work hard at applying it.

My betas point out all sorts of things I’ve missed — which is painful! — but I know they help me make it a much better book. And so I look forward to their responses with a kind of eager terror! 😀

Want more?

I’m such a fan of beta readers that I’m writing a series on the topic. These are already published:

How to respond to a beta report — Yes, of course there’ll be chocolate, weeping and despair, but after that?? 😉

How to be a beta reader — Ooh, some secret tips gleaned from the way I do edits myself!

How to write a beta report — How to present your reactions in the most useful way.

If you’d like to get these upcoming articles straight to your Inbox, use the form below to subscribe to this blog, and you’ll get them fresh from the oven. (I’m making up the part about the oven, but doesn’t it make you think of hot bread? Yum… hot bread…)

What has your experience been with getting feedback on your books? Have you had beta reads done? What have you found helpful or unhelpful about the responses you received?

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You’re so right, Molly. It’s almost like my betas were reading completely different books. 😉 And yet, when I sit down and think carefully through what they’ve said, there’s lots of wisdom amongst it. Sometimes they point out a problem that needs to be fixed, even though I might end up going for a different solution than the one they recommended. It’s a challenge in the end to find the courage to listen to yourself as well as everyone else.

And a good beta reader is pure gold. May I be as good a beta reader for others as my beta readers have been for me. 🙂

Hi Belinda, a very helpful post! This is exactly the information I was looking for a wee while ago and found very difficult to find, so, it’s great you are sharing it here – I eventually did find info on beta readers but I had to hunt around a bit! I used beta readers for the first time for my new crime novel Food of Ghosts. I thought carefully about who I would ask, and picked them because I thought they were discerning readers, and I believed I could trust them. I was not proved wrong. They were great. Although very differently expressed, I got more or less the same feedback from all three concerning two areas, and interestingly these were areas in the novel that I was not 100% sure about. They did not make recommendations, merely pointed out what did and didn’t work for them. I’ve found it invaluable. For sure i hated very second of considering what they had to say (I thought I was done!!!) and I had to wait much longer than I thought I would for their feedback, and then I had to have a long think and rewrite, which all took time (when I though I was done! Did I say that already?) But it was worth it. Like you say, we want our books to be as good as they can be before committing them to print (when it’s too late to change anything!) and beta readers worked for me. I will use them again – and they said they would be happy to do it again! I’d like to believe them 🙂
ps: Great to see you are blogging again! yeh hey!!

Hi Marianne, well done on finding such good and helpful beta readers. And, oh, I know the pain of thinking you’re finished and then finding out there’s a lot more work to do! 😉

The thriller I’m writing, POISON BAY, is my first novel after being in and around non-fiction for years, so I’m thinking of it as a bit of an “apprenticeship”. I’m willing to wrestle with it for a significant length of time to get it as right as I can before I launch it into the world. A couple of my beautiful beta readers have even offered to read it again when I’ve reworked it, can you believe? They deserve medals, songs written in their honour, a box of virtual chocolates. 😉

Lovely to have you visit my blog, and yes, I’m trying to get back on the blogging trail. 😀

I’m new to your blog but just wanted to say that this was very helpful. I’m self-publishing my third book but I would like to implement a better (more professional) publishing process this time around and will def use bete readers.

One question- Is this something that should be done after the book is edited? Or do beta readers just usually give feedback on a first draft? What would you recommend, thanks.

You’ll get most value from a beta read…
AFTER you’ve spent a lot of time yourself editing and rewriting and polishing the manuscript, as a beta read is like a “test flight” for your book, so you want it to be your “best book” that they are testing.
But it should be…
BEFORE you have a professional edit done, as you will usually make quite a few changes in response to a beta read (I always do on my own books!), and you want the professional edit to occur very close to actually publishing.

So the stages might be:
first draft
author edits and rewrites
final draft (final as you can get at that stage)
beta read
author evaluates beta reports then edits and rewrites
truly final draft
professional edit
typeset (paperback)
professional proofread (optional, but definitely advisable for paperback)
publish

Thank you so much for your articles on beta readers! I am currently editing an rewriting my memoir about pregnancy after the loss of a child. I know I need beta readers because the subject is so close but I’ve been unsure what to tell them to look for. Your posts have helped immensely with what specifics to offer my readers as guidance.
Thanks so much!
Alexis Marie Chute

Hi Alexis, I’m so glad the posts have helped you. I’m working on some more in the series that will give people tips for how to brief a beta reader, and then how to respond to the beta reports they receive.

Every book needs an outside perspective, but you are right that something so deeply personal as the memoir you describe is even harder for a writer to be objective about. One of the hazards, of course, is finding beta readers who can remain compassionate about the author’s emotions about such devastating events, without holding back on the feedback she needs to hear! It’s a difficult line to walk, and I hope your beta readers will be a great strength to you.

I wish you a final book that is both successful, and also perhaps healing for you, both in the expression of your feelings and in the help it may offer to others walking a similar path. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. 🙂

Gee…All these years I’ve had a Beta reader and been a Beta reader and didn’t know it. It’s probably the first time in my life that I’m “on trend” LOL. But seriously, getting a variety of individual opinions on your manuscript will not only help you polish the piece, it may help you pin down your audience. Beyond just pointing out boring dialog or a sagging plot line, you’ll arrive at a sense of who “gets” your book and who doesn’t.

I’ve just been given this site by my friend, Effrosyni, after asking her what, exactly, a beta reader was. I have effectively had a group of beta readers ever since I started writing commercially. There are five I use all the time. Four are published authors themselves. Three are professional editors. Two are English teachers. They have been invaluable. My experience with critique groups has been much less successful. I actually won a critique in a competition. Worst present I ever had. The critic clearly had no understanding of the story, ‘corrected’ my grammar by introducing errors and commented that he, personally did not think it was very clever to use the names of Greek gods for characters who were not actually Greek gods. This surprised me because the MS clearly WAS about the Greek gods.

Sounds like you have an exceptionally good set of beta readers, Jenny. Treasure them! (I’m sure you do already.)

One of the things that concerns me about critique groups is that you can’t be certain of the quality of the feedback you’re getting. For a confident author that’s OK, because you can glean what’s valuable and ignore the rest. But for newbie authors, they can be blown every which way by every different opinion, and lose their voice instead of finding it.

But getting other opinions on a manuscript remains an important principle, as you and I have both found. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

I totally agree Belinda. Personally I have five, some writers, some not. Beta readers are not editors.
They look at the whole story from the point of view of the reader, asking does it work or doesn’t it? In that regard they are a completely invaluable, not to say essential, tool in the writer’s arsenal. If you’re story doesn’t gel, they will soon tell you.
Great article by the way.
😀

Thanks for this excellent post, Belinda. I’m coaching somebody who has an MS ready for publication; I have urged him to seek some beta-readers but wanted to show him (and them) a clear definition of what the role entails. I liked your explanation very much.

Your article on beta-readers role in the publishing cycle is very informative. My book is awaiting print version design, and should be ready for publication..I stumbled on your article on the pros of having Beta-readers look at it prior to publication..
Would you be interested in looking at my manuscript, inclusive of book cover?

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